A land-use-constrained, generation-transmission model for electricity generation through solar photovoltaic technology: a case study of south India

Full exploitation of solar photovoltaic electricity generation potential is being pegged back by land availability and the imbalance between demand and generation capacity. In the present work, a land-use-constrained generation model is proposed to identify natural pathways for energy flows within a politically administered region so as to evolve a sustainable nexus between electricity generation and consumption in a decentralized power generation scenario. The model envisages district-level coordination of electricity generation on barren rocky waste land and state-level coordination of distribution. Application of the model to five south Indian states, individually and together, demonstrates how the model is able to account for intra- and interstate disparities in electricity consumption and photovoltaic electricity generation potential. Two of these states can go completely renewable by using all available barren rocky area for electricity generation while the other three will have to rely on as yet untapped off-shore wind power and nuclear power to move towards carbon neutrality in power generation. When considered together, almost all the day time electrical energy demand of all the states can be met by utilizing barren rocky waste land for harnessing solar energy, thus saving considerably on storage losses. [GRAPHICS] .

Automated summary

Efficient utilization of land resources and coordination between electricity generation and consumption at different levels can lead to sustainable energy solutions and move towards carbon neutrality.